DSS has arraigned two top Ansaru leaders at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Prosecutors accuse them of masterminding deadly attacks, kidnappings, and the 2022 Kuje prison break in Nigeria.
The Department of State Services (DSS) on Wednesday arraigned two top figures of the banned terror group Ansaru at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The defendants identified as Mahmud Usman (also called Abu Bara’a Abbas or Mukhtar) and his deputy, Mahmud Al-Nigeri (also known as Malam Mamuda) are facing a 32-count indictment filed by the DSS.
Investigators allege the pair coordinated an attack on the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment in Kainji, Niger State, in 2022, leading to multiple casualties. The two men are also accused of undergoing intensive training in weapons, battlefield tactics and improvised explosive device (IED) production at militant camps, including facilities linked to terrorist groups in Mali.
Security sources further claim Mamuda received training from foreign instructors in Libya between 2013 and 2015. The DSS says the suspects masterminded the July 2022 Kuje prison break in Abuja that led to the escape of more than 600 inmates.
According to prosecutors, the duo also plotted an assault on Niger’s uranium facility and were involved in several kidnappings. These include the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp, the 2019 kidnapping of Alhaji Musa Umar Uba, Magajin Garin Daura, and a series of armed robberies.
Ansaru, which splintered from Boko Haram in 2012, initially claimed to be a “less violent” alternative but rapidly evolved into a dangerous extremist network blamed for numerous attacks across Nigeria and the Sahel region.
